The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-10-31
A Crew Of twenty-five and an Unknown
Number of Passengers Drowned-A Passing
Vessel That Was Unable to Give Assistance
No Bodies Yet Recovered by Any of the
Life-Saying Crews of the Vicinity,
And 1t Is Generally Believed that Every Per-
son on Board Perished-The Steamer Said
to Have Been FaultiIy Constructed.


propeller Vernon wrecked in the terrible
gale that swept Lake Michigan yesterday and
her entire crew OF twenty-five persons and the
passengers. number unknown. supposed to
have been lost. It involves a greater loss of
life than any of the previous disasters the
lake this season. not excepting the propeller
Champlain. which burned early in the
spring, off Charlevox, drowning twenty
four persons. A most singular coinci-
dence is that the Vernon was the vessel
winch took the place of the Champlain in the
Northern Michigan line, and had only been
the line since Aug. l. She one of the finest
furnished passenger boats on the lakes and had
valuation of $4,000 Captain Moran, of the
steamship Superior, which arrived hero at $50
o'clock last night brought the frsa news of .he
wreck. Said he: ''To pass man on raft,
appealing for our help: another dying from ex-
posure, and small boat in which we could see
one woman and three men, one of the latter
hailing with a coat stuck upon his oar all being
tossed about in a terrible sea, without our being
able TO render them any assistance, was
heartrendine in the extreme. We were also
fighting for lives, our steamer having be-
come disabled in the With the exception of
the cooks, our entire of sixteen men, even
to the engineer, were down below. some of them
steering the vessel with a temporary tackle
which we had rieged I'D, while the others were
trying to repair the break. Our tiller had be-
some disconnected from the rudder-poss leaving
at the mercy of the until managed to
rig MP temporary tackle. With this we managed
to keep our vessel out of the trough of the sea
and, keep her before the gale. 1t was three
hours before we had made repairs that
could handle ourselves, and then were out
of ali oh of the ckadT men The cnol-e On
deck were the first to call our attention to the
wreckage. It was about 10 o'clock this morn
ing when off Two Rivers. some miles out in
Lake Michigan. that we passed through some
lumber. Five miles further We passed lot
of barrels and :hen encountered wreckage for
some distance. Among it was furniture and
bed clothing, besides life e-preservers mere and
there. One cook said he counted thirteen life
preservers, and know that it must have been
passenger boat to carry so many. We passed
near some of the life-preservers that they
might have been picked up had the cooks usea
a pike pole. was only deck part of the
time, and others of the crew came up. as
they had all they could do where they were.
When about six miles east-northeast Of Manto-
voc. the cook who had been keeping lookout.
called deck with the Information
that a raft could be seen with a man
l.
see the man waving his hand to u.s. He was
standing upright the raft. which was about
half mile between us and the shore. and the
sea was washing over il. Il appeared about
twelve feet square, and as if it might be the top
of cabin. Poor fellow, he must have thought
it cruel OF us to pass by and leave him there to
suffer. Ten minutes later We sighted another
raft. also about a half mile inside of 1t was
much smaller. apparently not more than four by
eight feet, and looked like piece of bul warks.
On it was lying man who. although
still alive. probably did discern us.
rs he was too far gone. We could see
him dip his head as his frail little float was
tossed about in the sea. as though he was about
dead. We a yawl with three men and one
woman in it little further south. There may.
however. have been more of them lying down in
the boat the three saw being the seats
One of the men was standing up holding an
oar, with his coat swinging to attract attention
Their hearts must have been gladdened in their
inhuman they must have thought
as when we passed them bv. and within
a mile, too. without even turning our vessel to-
ward them! But with our steering gear disabled
as it was, coald stop vessel, and there
was nothing for to do but hope that some one
of the vessels coming up the lake astern Of Us
is possibility that large schooner coming up
the lake after us may have picked up
che persons the boat. She was
three or four miles astern of us,
and I could through the glass that
she heading towards them. But she may
have been bound for Manitowoc. and could have
possibility that she could have taken the men
of the RATS, and it is doubtful if she could
pick up the yawl in such sea. If she could get
close enough to throw them line as she
scudded by, and they held to it, there might
be chance for them to be saved.
1T was as heavy sea as have experienced
in all my life on the lakes. Just t6 give yon an
idea of it. the Sanduskv which we had in tow,
sometimes buried herself SO that only half of her
masts could be seen. Once she stayed under so
long that / thought she gone. We will
make repairs here and go to Chicago"
The fndine of the pilot-h house of the Vernon
by tug near Manitowoc, Wis, settles all doubt
regarding the identity of the lost vessel. Scarce
~ any traces of the cargo have been seen to-day.
and nothing has been heard of those on board.
1t is feared that not a single soul of the thirty
or more aboard Is left to tell the
story Of the disaster. A forlorn
hope is entertained that passing vessel
may have picked up some of the unfortunates,
but with the terrible that was running il
would have been almost a miracle to accomplish
a rescue. The captain of the llfesavnc crew at
Two Rivers. Wis, describes the the
worst ever seen by him on the lake. the waves
rising to the height of thirty or forty feet. The
first information received by him was
from this mornings papers. although
place within seven miles of Two Rivers.
II is his impression that one has survived the
wreck. 1T was bitterly cold the lake. he
said, land person could not have stood the ex-
posure over night The spray dashing over the
men clingine to the wreckage must have frozen
it fell and com Dletey encased the unfortun-
ates If indeed. they held on long enough to per-
nit such thing. My impression is that they
are all the bottom of the lake"
Neither at Mantowoc nor Two Rivers were
any traces of the lost vessel to be heard of yes
terday, either by vessels arriving there or By
means of tugs going few miles out.
CAPTAIN Hawkins, OF the schooner William
Home. arriving in Milwaukee this morning,
reports passing three dead bodies. Sat
urday afternoon. ABOUT six miles southwest of
Manitowoc. One body that OF a
with long black hair One had a life -preserver
on. The other two bodies were those OF men.
None of the other vessels arriving here yester-
day any wreckage or bodies most of them
having been too far out in the lake
From dispatches sent out by the Sentinel yes
terday to its correspondents. the following three
names of passengers have been secured though
is cannot be positively ascertained that the per-
named aboard. It's Mackiuaw
correspondent gives the names of the follow
ing two persons. supposed have been
hoard Iiss Katie liallaeher MacLir Island: